Double Trouble

Conley WoodsTuesday, July 10, 2012

Yesterday, we looked at a decklist that that featured poison as its kill mechanism, but that is not the only way to approach infect these days. We noted that maybe the Wild Defiance list needed a little work around the edges to truly be a threat to win tournaments, but sometimes, it is a small twist on a popular archetype that grabs people's attention.

For months, Delver of Secrets has been winning tournaments and demanding sideboard attention from every other deck in the format. Delver decks have traditionally been white-blue in nature, and with the printing of Lingering Souls they have splashed black on occasion. But originally, Delver decks were mono-blue and packed a bunch of Illusion synergies. While the Illusion synergies might be a thing of the past, ObviousVillian on Magic Online wants you to know that mono-blue is back!

This shell can play out like any typical Delver deck. You can have your turn-two flipped Delver backed by a Mana Leak, a Vapor Snag, and a Snapcaster Mage, and the game essentially ends—but that isn't why we are here. You see, the deck can also jump out of nowhere and poison you out with a little aid from Inkmoth Nexus. With a Runechanter's Pike on it, that Nexus can go from irrelevant to lethal in a split second. Similar lists have used Blighted Agent as an additional poison threat, but this list is much more true to its origins and runs Invisible Stalker as that secondary threat.

Obviously, Delver decks are hardly the kind of thing people want to continue seeing tournament after tournament, but with some small changes and innovative ideas like adding infect into the list, at least we get to see more diversity than just the traditional white-blue shell. That said, if Delver is still not your cup of tea, come back tomorrow when we will be Delverless. I promise!